94 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



Louisa County — Continued. 



remains; in some were charcoal, flint chips, and split and broken 

 bones of animals, ^^s 



Toolcsboro. Parties from the Davenport Academy ^27. 204, 205 

 explored a group {a) of mounds on the edge of the bluff overlook- 

 ing the Iowa River bottom two and one-half miles from its mouth. 

 Three-quarters of a mile south is another group of six or seven 

 mounds {p). 



(a). Mounds from 40 to 80 feet diameter and from 6 to 10 

 feet in height, composed of a hard mixture of clay and black soil, 

 both of local origin. They are burial mounds but the bones con- 

 tained in them were not numerous and were poorly preserved. 

 Most of them contained oak logs 6 to 8 inches in diameter placed 

 at or near the bottom of the mound and much decayed ; the bones 

 were most frequently immediately beneath these. Some mounds 

 were opened. In JVo. i a few flint chips and scattered human 

 bones were found. In JVb. 2 the decayed wood was found at 

 depths of 6 to 9 feet. The logs showed no arrangement; but 

 skeletons were found more frequently below them than elsewhere. 

 Portions of skeletons (including a child's skull) were found, all 

 too badly decayed to be of use. Near one skull was a neatly 

 carved pipe of gray pipestone representing a bird, with eyes of 

 pure copper ; also a copper awl about six inches long, hammered 

 square instead of round and bent at right angles and flattened 

 near one end. Mound 2Vo. j was opened fully. It was com- 

 posed of mixed earth ; the large sticks of wood were found near 

 the base in positions showing no arrangement. There were many 

 irregular layers of about ^^ inch thickness looking like white 

 ashes ; such were usually found in contact with the wood on the 

 under side. The mound was built of firm, hard, light-colored 

 clay, apparently the original earth of the locality stripped of its 

 black soil. A layer of tough yellow clay about an inch thick was 

 placed upon this. The bones, implements, etc., were directly 

 upon this layer. No such clay layer was in JVo. i or JVo. 2. Two 

 or three very fragile skeletons were here ; a large marine shell — 

 Cassis madagascarensis — 71^ x 10^ inches, holding about 51^ 

 pints and cut out to serve as a vessel ; with it and near one skull 

 were parts of four earthen vessels; these were crushed or fragile. 

 They had contained river shells. A few feet from this was an- 



